Restaurant owner recovering after robbery, shooting

THE WOODLANDS - Montgomery County Sheriff’s deputies are still looking for a man who robbed, and then shot, a popular restaurant owner known for donating food to those in need Sunday night.

Mukomer “Manny” Bekiri, 41, was reported in stable condition at Memorial Hermann Hospital - Texas Center in Houston after he was shot in the abdomen by an unknown assailant, MCSO Lt. Dan Norris said.

Bekiri is owner of the Brothers Pizza Express located at 2260 Buckthorne Place, in the Grogan’s Mill Village Center.

The aggravated robbery occurred about 9:30 p.m. Sunday in the parking lot of the Parkside Apartments in the 10600 block of Six Pines Drive. Bekiri and Alicia Leach, 39, were returning from a date when they were approached by a man who demanded their wallets, restaurant manager R.T. Davis said.

Although Bekiri and Leach complied with the request, the gunman shot Bekiri once in the abdomen before fleeing through the complex on foot with the wallets and an undetermined amount of cash, according to a Sheriff’s Office press release.

The alleged robber is described as a thin, black male in his early 20s, between 5 feet, 5 inches and 5 feet, 7 inches in height. He wore a gray, hooded sweatshirt and baggy pants at the time of the robbery, the MCSO release stated.

Norris said Sheriff’s Office investigators believe the aggravated robbery was a random act. At first Davis thought the alleged gunman could have been someone with a “familiar face” to Bekiri, but Davis later said Bekiri did not know the man.

Davis, who has worked at Brothers Pizza the past 13 years, said it is not unusual for Bekiri to donate food to people in need.

“Manny sees so many faces during the course of each workday,” Davis said. “He’s got such a big heart. He just keeps giving and giving and giving.”

A member of the the South Montgomery County Woodlands Chamber of Commerce, Bekiri has been part of the family-owned pizza business since it was founded by his uncle Jimmy, who came to Houston in 1980 from Brooklyn, New York.

The Grogan’s Mill location has been open for 11-1/2 years, Davis said.

Another six Brothers Pizza restaurants are located throughout the Houston area, including one in Sterling Ridge in The Woodlands, and one in the Magnolia area.

Davis said the telephone at the Grogan’s Mill restaurant had been ringing non-stop since the start of the business day Monday, as regular customers have inquired about Bekiri’s condition.

Davis said Bekiri, a father of three, is expected to make a full recovery.

Jim Cass is a regular customer of Brothers Pizza who stopped by at lunchtime Monday for a slice of custom-made pizza and an update on Bekiri’s condition.

“He’s a good guy who’s friendly to everyone,” Cass said, of Bekiri. “He never turns anyone down. He’s provided kids with so many jobs down through the years.

“Manny been’s a big contributor to the community for a long time,” he said.